Police Suspect Three Mumbai Men May Have Joined ISIS

A senior police official said this is a suspicion as of now, and a probe is on to ascertain this.

Islamic State fighters take part in a military parade in Syria. (Photo: Reuters)

Three youths from Mumbai who have been missing for some time are suspected to have joined terror outfit Islamic State (ISIS), according to the police. The information reached them on Monday evening.

The three youths identified as Ayaz Sultan (23), Mohsin Sheikh (26) and Wajid Sheikh (25), were residents of Malvani area in western suburb of Mumbai.

A senior police officer said on a condition of anonymity said:

Only Ayaz had a passport while the other two did not. We have no confirmation of Wajid and Mohsin leaving the country, but Ayaz has gone to a country in the Middle East. Till now it is just a suspicion and nothing else.

These three men might have joined ISIS. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Mid-day)

The parents of the three men have registered a missing complaint with the Malvani police, the senior police officer said. Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) is probing the case. While Sultan went missing on 30 October, the other two have been missing since 16 December.

Malvani police station’s senior inspector Milind Khetle said that Sultan left home on 30 October after telling his parents that he had to go to Pune in connection with a job offer he got from a Kuwait-based firm.

The Families React

The day before he left, he told me he had to go to Pune regarding a job offer in Kuwait. At 5.30 am on 30 October, he left home with a bag full of clothes and his passport. I didn’t even know he had a passport!

<a href="http://www.mid-day.com/articles/3-mumbai-men-have-left-to-join-isis-anti-terrorism-squad/16789179">Razia, Sultan’s mother</a>

Mohsin left home on 16 December, saying he was going to attend a friend’s wedding. Wajid also left home the same day saying he had to get the name on his Aadhaar card corrected, the police officer said.

A day after he left, Wajid’s wife filed a missing person’s complaint. She told the police that her husband fought with her a lot after he got influenced by the ISIS ideology. He had also started talking about joining the extremist body after going to Syria.

Police strongly suspect that the three men were in touch with each other as they resided in the same area and because two of them left home on the same day.

An ATS official said they tried to crack the password of the email accounts of the three missing youths, but have not been successful so far.

(With agency inputs)

Also read: The Islamic State is Unsuccessful in India. Here’s Why